Observed Moments
by Gabiroba
Summary: Part three of Moments series. Some plans should be agreed on before they are acted upon.


She looked down at her hands, the stark contrast of the cuffs that bound her hands reminding her of the current situation.

There would be no roses on her doorstep. There would be no surprise visit. There would be no secret meetings in secluded places.

There would once again be a fishbowl room. There would be chaperones during his visits. There would be more lies between them.

She took her eyes off from her hands and brought them up to face the man who had plagued her thoughts for the past 30 years, the man who had made her life sweet bliss and a living hell of loving memories and hateful betrayals.

Once again she had popped up out of the blue. Once again she had turned herself in at Langley. Once again he had been surprised to see her present. And once again she knew she would have to go against him to get out of here.

They held each other's eyes as each of them realized the situation they found themselves in. He couldn't go to her and risk exposing their operation. She couldn't say a word without giving the CIA an inkling into her psyche.

For the foreseeable future he was under her control. For the foreseeable time, she had no way of escape. And for the foreseeable time, they had no way of being together.

He was beyond mad at her having turned herself in again. They had discussed this just last week. There were other ways for them to take down the bastards than her having to infiltrate through CIA holding centers. She didn't have to risk herself just to prove a point. But being that she was Irina Derevko, The Man extraordinaire, she did whatever she damn well pleased. They were going to have to have a serious talk once they managed to get themselves out of this situation.

On the other side of the table, Irina was having thoughts along the same lines. There was no way she was going to allow her husband to single-handedly foil the group that was operating from behind the prison cells and destroying her businesses. She was much more suited to the task than he, and there was the added benefit of him looking after their daughter for her once she was… indisposed.

"Ms. Derevko, you mentioned you had some information for us?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, _Derevko my ass_, were her thoughts. "It is customary to refer to a woman by her marital status."

He cocked his head at her. There was no way he was bringing that up with the cameras on them and the microphones picking up the littlest sounds going through the room.

"Forgive me, I did not know you had wed since last we met."

"You know damn well who I wed and when Jonathan. It is quite rude to treat your wife in this fashion."

"My wife died in a car accident, as you so kindly put it the last time you graced these halls."

Her eyes softened and he could see something different in them. It had been a long time since he had brought that up with the intention of hurting her. Her look asked him if it was really necessary to make this any harder than it was likely to be. Still being able to read her better than anyone, he bowed his head. He had known he was taking it to far, reminding them of what she had to protect them was usually reserved for their private moments, away from prying eyes.

He looked back at her and she could see he would not be referring to her as anything but Irina Derevko, no matter what the marriage license said.

"Irina then, it does not change the fact that you have turned yourself in to the CIA. What information do you have?"

She smiled, two could play that game. "Only after I speak to my daughter."

"No. She doesn't want to see you."

"You're lying Jack. You never were quite proficient at it."

"You would know." He raised an eyebrow at her, challenge issued.

"Why, I'd hoped you'd noticed." Challenge accepted.

"Fine, I'll be back." He got up from the table and went to the door. "Don't move."

She looked up at him innocently. "How could I?"

He could see the sparkle in her eyes. Yeah, how could she? There were probably a thousand different ways she could, and they both knew it.

"Right."

-0-0-0-0-0-

From the observation room, three people watched the exchanges between the two seasoned spies. Two had frowns on their faces the third a cheeky grin.

The two looked at the odd man out.

"What?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable with the stares.

Sydney pointed at the screen. "What could you possibly be grinning about? My parents are in that room, obviously as pissed at each other as always."

Weiss looked at her then at Vaughn. Both had matching looks of worry and trepidation written all over. He just kept on grinning.

"Come one, you didn't buy all that, did you?"

"Buy what? They were hostile to one another."

"Yeah, but did you miss the lack of sexual tension in the room? There was tension, yeah. But it was like a couple fighting." He looked smug at himself. "I think they've been getting it on behind the curtain, and I don't mean the iron one."

Sydney looked back at the screen where she saw her mother looking down at her hands again. There was a soft smile on the woman's face, almost as if she were completely at peace. From what they knew of Irina, that could very well be true since she once again turned herself in. There was something weird she couldn't put her finger on though. Her father had gone to her immediately, and he had been very mad. He didn't look surprised though.

The man in question entered the room again, this time with an agent in tow. They pulled her mother up and he bent to un-cuff her feet from the chair. When he stood back up he must have said something to her mother because she burst out laughing unguardedly for a moment. Her father looked up at the camera and grimaced.

There was definitely something going on here.


End file.
